The life of a Ninja
by nothing but blue
Summary: They say that being a ninja is all about glory and justice. But it's not. It's about blood and kunai, duty and honor, hatred and sadness...and maybe, in the midst of it all, love. NejiTen, Sasusaku, ShikaIno, Naruhina
1. Best Friends

A/N: Okay, this is going to be my first multi-chapter fic. I hope everyone enjoys it. It's mostly going to be NejiTen and Sasusaku. Well, hope you enjoy and please leave a review.

Chapter 1: Best Friends

Tenten walked down the busy streets of Konoha on a hot autumn's day. Usually, she enjoyed days liked this; loved to observe all the people of her beautiful village and bask in all the warmth the sun had to offer. But today was different. Today, her feet were on auto-pilot (she had walked this path so many times that she could have done it blindfolded), and her mind was wandering.

Yesterday, Uchiha Sasuke had returned; bruised and bleeding and with a sad, sad look in his eyes. She wondered what would happen to him now; what he would do now that he had achieved his life goal. She wondered if everything was the way he thought it would be after he killed his brother; if fulfilling his single most important ambition in life was really worth all of the sacrifices he had made to get it.

_Sacrifice._ The word was familiar to her. It was what she lived. It was her ninja way. She had made so very many sacrifices in her life. She had sacrificed the easy girly childhood she could have had, and traded it in for the life of a ninja. A life full of danger and blood and kunai. She had sacrificed her whole life for a single life goal. Strength.

Still, she did not regret it a single bit. She would _never_ be like her mother; weak and helpless and unable to protect the things that were most precious to her.

She shook her head, trying in vain to clear the images that sprang up into her mind. Blood and pale, cold bodies and endless tears. No, she did not want to live the life her mother. She would be strong. She would be unbreakable. She would be the greatest kunoichi there ever was.

And she would protect the people that she loved so dearly. For some unexplainable reason, Neji appeared in her mind's eye. She scoffed at the idea of _Neji_ of all people being protected.

Neji, who's heart could be as cold as ice. Neji, who was her teammate, her training partner, and the captain of her ANBU squad all rolled into one. Neji, who she would dare to call her very best friend.

He had always been there for her, and in his own silent way had always comforted her in those times when she simply felt too tired to go on. He had always been there; pushing her to become her best and helping her become strong. Always watching with those deep, endless eyes of his that seemed to see right through her. He scared her. He scared her and fascinated her at the same time, and—she shook her head in disbelief. This was _Neji_ she was talking about, _the_ Hyuuga Neji.

She could not love anyone, especially not Neji. Long ago, she had put up a smiling mask; a mask she had worn even if she was broken and bleeding inside. A mask that separated her from everyone else minute she had donned it. Even when it was not, she acted as if everything was alright. Because she couldn't be weak.

And long ago, she had decided that it just might be okay to have friends, maybe even _best_ friends. But never, _never,_ would she allow herself to _love_ anyone. It would only lead to hurt in the end. She had learned from personal experience after all.

She had entered the forest now, and was standing on the very edge of the clearing; _their_ clearing. She thought of all the long, hard hours of training she and Neji had went through in this clearing. The memories suddenly came back to her like a rush of wind. Memories of her and Neji, training, talking, anything. Simple memories, but precious nonetheless. She wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.

And even as she watched Neji throwing targets at a straw dummy, she told herself that he would never be more than a friend. Even as she noticed just how perfect his black, black hair looked in the sun and admired the way his powerful eyes were narrowed in what appeared to be a mixture of concentration and deep thought, she told herself that Neji was her best friend, and that he would stay that way and that she did not love him.

Because it was as simple as this. You just didn't fall in love with your best friend.

Neji looked up at the sky. She was late again. Or perhaps he was just early. He didn't know anymore. He had been waiting here the whole afternoon. After all, being in a forest with so many good memories was much better than staying in the House of the Hyuugas, where gray eyes seemed to lurk at every shadow; watching him, _judging_ him.

He wanted to be strong. He wanted to be the strongest ninja there was, so that could prove that Branch family members deserved to be treated with respect. He wanted to tear down the division between the Branch and Main houses of the Hyuuga clan. That was his ninja way.

He got up, and went to stand in the middle of the clearing, choosing small targets from among the branches to aim at. He figured he might as well practice until his partner came. He looked at the kunai and shuriken in his hand, his mind instantly thinking of the famous weapons' mistress of Konoha.

_Tenten,_ he thought, throwing kunai at the target, hitting all the right places. He thought of her smiling face.

She was pretty. He had cursed his hormones the day he had realized it, but he knew it was true. Tenten had the kind of beauty that no one else had. The kind of wild, untamed beauty that somehow reminded him of the cold, biting wind of winter and the blazing heat of summer and flowers in the desert all at the same time.

He often found himself wondering about her. He had known her since they had been twelve years old, and he understood her better than anyone else ever would. But there were parts of her that she hadn't let him see yet. Dark, secret parts that she constantly hid behind her bright smile. And sometimes he even found himself wondering if he even knew her at all.

Tenten was . . . he didn't know what exactly Tenten was . . . She was the tomboy girl with buns in her hair he had met at twelve years old. And she was the woman he had come to recognize as a rather mature and well-respected twenty-year old kunoichi. She was his teammate and his training partner, and maybe even . . . maybe even his best friend. Tenten was the one person in the whole world who could take one look at him and know what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and understand everything in a split second.

But he would not- could not- allow _Tenten_ of all people to mess up all the plans that he had worked so hard for. He could not allow her to get in the way of his gaining strength. And damn it, he wouldn't allow his feelings to get in the way of the perfect balance they had created.

He liked the balance. He would help her, and she would help him. It was an agreement, an unspoken pact between them that had never been broken once over the last eight years of their partnership. It was constant and it was simple, and if it didn't change, he would be all the happier. He was content (or so he told himself) with what they had now. A companionship that couldn't be put into words, a give-take relationship, and the silent agreement that they were best friends and nothing more.

They never _could_ be anything more, because they were ninja. And being a ninja meant getting rid of all feelings of love and attachment. Because being a ninja meant danger and single-minded devotion to one thing and one thing only: the well being and protection of Konoha. They both understood this. He had chosen this path and hell if he would wander off from it.

He did not want- did not _need-_ anything more out of Tenten than what she already gave him. He couldn't possibly _love_ her, because, well, because he was Hyuuga Neji and he was so completely focused on his goal that he did not have time for anything else. Especially not for Tenten and love.

He knew also that she too was completely focused on her goal of becoming the strongest kunoichi. She wouldn't have the time for silly things like love either, he told himself. Why? Because Tenten was not like other girls. She had never bothered with her looks, never cared what anyone else thought of her, and was the most independent and stubborn person he had ever met.

And she was ambitious. She knew what she wanted, and had never taken her eyes off the prize that they had all labeled as strength. She was too instinctive and emotional for her own good (though she didn't seem to be aware of it, he most definitely was), and yet she always insisted on acting as if everything was okay when it wasn't. She foolishly thought that she could hide behind that smile and make pretend that she didn't suffer at all; that there wasn't a constant, stabbing pain somewhere in her heart. And she was like that because she was Tenten. And she would always stay Tenten.

_But I will not allow her to get in the way of my goal, no matter who she is. She will not make me soft. She never will. Because she is my best friend, and nothing more. And I do not love her. I could never love her._

He knew this because of one simple fact. You just didn't fall in love with your best friend.

To be continued

A/N: How was it? Please leave some comments, suggestions, or criticism in your reviews! And, I just wanted to ask everyone a question. You don't have to answer, but I'm just curious.

What is your favorite Naruto pairing?

Thanks for reading and I'll update next week. Bye!


	2. Reality

A/N: Okay everyone, I'm back with yet another chapter. This is for all you SasuSaku fans. For all of you who don't know, this will be mostly a NejiTen and SasuSaku fic with some NaruHina and ShikaIno. Hope I'll be able to update this quick all the time. Oh yeah, and if you're reading this fic, please leave a review. It really encourages me and helps me know what you guys are thinking. Thanks! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Chapter 2: Reality

He frowned as he noticed that Tenten had already arrived and was standing silently at the edge of the clearing. Silently, he berated himself on his lack of awareness. If she had been an enemy he would have been dead by now.

_Why isn't she coming out yet?_ he wondered while still throwing shiruken at random targets.

Finally, he decided to acknowledge her presence and turned around, his face impassive. "Are you just going to stand there all day?"

She looked surprised for a moment, but it was instantly covered up with a teasing smile. "Is it so wrong for a mere mortal to admire the greatness of _the _Hyuuga Neji?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm and playfulness. _Of course he would notice you,_ she scolded herself inwardly. _He must think you're a lunatic!_

"Hn," he replied, turning his back to her, and pocketing the shiruken he held in his hand. "Are we going to train or not." It wasn't a question.

"Of course," she said, already pushing the disturbing thoughts she had been thinking while staring at her teammate out of her mind. She jumped into the trees silently.

And with a flash of steel, they began their training.

* * *

_A long pale hand reached out to grab him. A snake with sharp fangs. Orochimaru. Blood. The stench of death. The red wheels of the Sharingan. Itachi. A flash of metal in the moonlight. Empty, haunted eyes framed by cold, pale faces. Blood._

Sasuke woke with a start, his hand already reaching for the sword that wasn't there. His calculating gaze swept the room, looking for the movement of an enemy. He blinked when all that met his eyes were white, plastered walls and a beeping heart monitor.

_A dream. It was just that same damn dream._ He closed his eyes, trying to block out the gory images of dead bodies. Tried to block out the memories of his blood stained past. It had been eight years. Eight long years since he had left—no, betrayed—Konoha. Eight long years since he had left that desperate crying girl lying on a bench on a cloudy summer night.

He looked around the white, empty walls. He was safe now. He was in Konoha. He was back home. And something in his heart relaxed at the thought. Of course, he knew that his betrayal would not go unpunished. He would probably be executed before a week had passed . . .

But he couldn't bring himself to fully regret what he had done. He had killed Itachi _and_ Orochimaru, the biggest threats to Konoha. And now the world was rid of practically every evil thing that existed. Now that Itachi and Orochimaru were dead, their followers would disband and would no longer be a major threat to Konoha.

But what about the things he had had to give up. All the things he had left behind. What about Sakura and Naruto and Kakashi? What about Konoha?

He thought back to that night so long ago. Leaving Konoha had been the hardest thing he had ever had to do. Harder than mastering Orochimaru's brutal techniques, harder than acting like he was evil to the core, harder, even, than killing all of those innocent people. It would have been hard enough, just walking out on the village he grew up in to join its enemy, but Sakura . . . Sakura just had to make it harder. He could still hear her voice in his head, so full of tears and devotion, crying—_begging_—him to stay.

He had never told anyone, but crying girls were just something he couldn't deal with. Especially not crying girls with pink hair and green eyes.

He had had to repeat in his head 'It's for their own good, it's for their own good,' over and over again while she was pleading with him. God, he had to knock her out just to make sure he kept his resolve. Because he wanted to protect them. He wanted to protect _her_.

That was something that surprised him the most. Even though he told himself, 'This is for revenge. This is for _me_,' the only thing he thought about in his hardest times was _them _(_smiling emerald eyes_) That he was doing this to protect _them_ (_her sweet laughter_) so that _they_ (_she_) would be safe.

He frowned. In the end, he just wasn't as selfish and violent as he thought himself to be.

"Sasuke . . . " He resisted the urge to jump as the hoarse, desperate whisper reached his ears. Something soft and warm shifted on the bed and he turned sharply to find the last thing he expected.

"Sakura," he breathed, almost reverently, almost alarmed at the fact that he hadn't noticed her presence before.

"Sasuke . . ." she spoke again in that tearful sort of whisper. "No . . ." she shifted again so that he could see her face. His eyes widened at the tears that ran down her cheeks. "Don't . . . leave . . ."

Something inside of him twisted at the words. Sakura was crying . . . because of him . . . again.

_I should wake her . . . but—_ his hand reached out to touch her hair and the moment his fingers made contact with her face she shot up, her wide green eyes instantly locking with his onyx ones as she instinctively tightened her grip around his own hand.

It seemed as if time stood still when she looked into his eyes. The same eyes she remembered. The same eyes she could lose herself in without a second thought. Sasuke's eyes. He was really here. He was really back home. It wasn't a dream. He was here, and he was safe and she would never let him leave again. "Sasuke," she whispered, her eyes still locked with his.

There were a few, brief seconds of tranquility when everything was right in her world, and then, reality came crashing down.

Sasuke wasn't hers. He never would be; never could be. He didn't love her—and she didn't love him. She was done crying. She was done with him. She didn't love him anymore.

She instantly let go of his hand as if it burned, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes and talking a mile a minute to fill up the silence (because perhaps even after eight years, some old habits never change.) "Sasuke, I'm so sorry. It was just that I came here to visit and I just fell asleep here. It's awfully busy at work you know and I've just been so tired lately and I really didn't mean to stay the night and sometimes, well, you see, I get nightmares . . ." She trailed off at this part, her eyes trained intently on the white hospital bed sheets.

She obviously hadn't realized that she had been talking of these said nightmares in her sleep, and Sasuke didn't even think of telling her.

In fact, Sasuke wasn't thinking much of anything at the moment. All he could do was sit there and wonder how he could have ever forgotten how...nice, her eyes were. He did not use words such as 'beautiful' or 'pretty' to describe them (though, secretly, that's what he thought they were) because Uchiha Sasuke just didn't _use _words like that.

And as the silence in his room stretched and thickened, all he could do was bask in the memory of her voice, so completely and utterly Sakura. In fact, everything about her was still the same Sakura he had left behind; sweet and pink and naïve.

Yet, he couldn't help but notice the way her soft pink hair had seemed to have gotten even softer and silkier (though she still kept it relatively short) than he ever remembered. (In the very back of his mind he wondered how it would feel between his rough, calloused fingers.) And how she had filled out in all the right places and the way her lips—

"Sasuke?" Her melodic voice broke through his thoughts. She leaned forward, forgetting her shyness in worry for her ex-teammate. "Are you alright? Should I get the nurse?"

His brain shut down as he inhaled her scent. She smelt like wildflowers and the cool, spring breeze. She smelt like innocence and purity, everything he was not. He leaned in closer to her so that their noses were almost touching, trying to get more of that glorious scent, more of _her_. He knew that he shouldn't touch her, he shouldn't taint her; but he couldn't help himself. It was as if his body moved on its own, drawn in by her emerald eyes and her skin and the way her breath mingled perfectly with his.

As if waking up from a dream, she blinked and abruptly pulled away, wincing slightly as if he had burnt her. Her breathing came in ragged gasps as she eyed him with so many emotions running through her eyes that he couldn't decipher a single one.

"I need to go." She stood up so quickly that she knocked over the chair, but she didn't seem to notice. "I need to go now." She practically ran out the door, quickly closing it behind her.

Sasuke stared at the door in shock. What had just happened? _What was I thinking? Damn it! I almost kissed her!_ He frowned at the memory. He had always had a . . . soft spot for the pink-haired kunoichi, but when had it gotten this bad? _But…she smelled so…nice,_ his mind countered convincingly.

He shook the thoughts from his head. No, he couldn't even begin to think of Sakura like that. She was annoying and she was noisy and whiny and weak. And he had much more important things to think about, like if he was even gonna be alive long enough to see her again.

As if in answer to his thoughts, the door was opened and an unfamiliar chuunin poked his head through the door meekly, obviously a little afraid of the S-class missing nin. "Uchiha Sasuke, Tsunade-sama will see you in two days, when you are fully recovered from your, er, injuries." The chuunin's eyes glanced down at the numerous bandages that covered the raven-haired man. Sasuke glared at him, and the boy audibly squeaked, shutting the door quickly. Obviously, word of Sasuke's insane strength had reached Konoha.

"Hn, pathetic," he muttered to himself.

_A trial, huh? Should be interesting._

To be continued…

* * *

A/N: So, how was it? Hope you enjoyed it. Tell me if I did alright on the SakuSaku part. Please leave me a review. It brightens up my whole day! (And it might encourage me to update faster.) wink, wink Thanks for reading! See ya next time! 


	3. Mistakes

A/N: Hi everyone! If anyone's even reading this… Well, I'm back with another chapter! Thank you for all of my reviewers and readers! You guys are awesome! Here's chapter 3. Enjoy! Leave a review? Please?

Chapter 3: Mistakes

Sakura closed the door to her apartment and sunk against it, her hands clutching her traitorous heart that still beat so quickly after her encounter with Sasuke.

_He can't do this to me,_ she told herself frantically in her head._ He shouldn't be making me feel things that I don't normally feel. It's wrong. It's just plain wrong. I'm . . . I'm over him._

But why was her heart still beating so fast? Why could she still feel his hot, steady breath brushing against her skin? Why could she still smell him? That faint scent of blood and bandages mixed with fire and rain, and underneath it all, the smell of the deepest, darkest part of the forest where no one else dared to travel.

She forced her breathing back to normal and slowly sunk into a meditation stance, her legs crossed and her arms resting on her knees. She had to think, calmly.

Sasuke had acted very . . . strangely today. She remembered the look in his eyes back in the hospital as he had leaned in closer to her, close enough to kiss.

She shook her head, her pink hair flying every which way. She must have been imagining it. Sasuke would never look at _her_ like that. He couldn't possibly have been meaning to . . . kiss her.

She couldn't help the shiver that ran through her spine at how very close he had been. _No! Stop thinking of him like _that_! This is Sasuke we're talking about. I decided a long time ago that if he ever came back, I would consider him a team mate and a close friend only. I should be more concerned about what Tsunade-sensei will do to him. He is an S-class missing nin after all._

She had wanted to ask him so many questions back in that white room. Why did he come back to Konoha? How had he gotten so injured? Just how strong had he become? She knew he had killed Itachi (word travels fast), but had he been responsible for the death of Orochimaru as well?

She sighed. What was the point of thinking about him? He had betrayed Konoha. He had betrayed her. And yet—she couldn't find it in herself to hate him. She could never hate him . . . she lov—No, no, damn it, what was she thinking!

_Sasuke is someone that I could never hope to have,_ she told herself in her most convincing voice._ He doesn't love me. He never can, and I've quit wasting my time and tears over him. We will be friends now, and I will help him get back his Konoha headband and we will all be teammates just like before; me, Naruto, and him. Just like before . . . except this time, I won't be the annoying fangirl. I'll just be Sakura. Just Sakura._

She liked how that sounded. She was done with him, and she had left all of those feelings of what she thought had been love far behind her. Now, she was just Sakura . . . all alone. _No, not alone,_ she told herself, _Just independent. Yeah . . . independent. _She closed her eyes, ignoring the pain in her heart. _I don't love him anymore. I never did,_ she repeated in her head as she forced a smile up to her face.

Maybe, if she repeated it enough, she would believe it.

The sun was setting by the time Tenten and Neji decided to take a break. They had been sparring nonstop since the afternoon, and both of them were exhausted. Of course, after this break, they would continue well into the night. That was what they had always done.

Tenten looked over at her partner from her spot on the ground. He was leaning up against a tree, looking up at the darkening sky. She sighed and returned her gaze back up to the sky as well.

"Tenten," her name rolled off his tongue, old and familiar. She loved the way he said her name. She always had.

"Hm?" She cocked her head to the side to let him know that she was listening, but her gaze remained on the sky.

"You've been acting strange lately. Is . . . everything alright?" He knew that if something was wrong, she would never tell him, but he asked anyway.

"I'm fine," she answered, just as he expected. "What about you Neji?" She finally turned to look at him. "You didn't seem too focused today." Her face took on a worried look, her eyes traveling down to his arm. "I should take care of that," she said softly. He could tell that she felt guilty and was trying not to show it. But it wasn't her fault. After all, it was inevitable that you would get a couple of wounds during training.

"It's just a scratch," he said in a curt tone, dismissing the subject. But she was too stubborn.

She sat up and scooted over to him, bandages and ointment already in her hands. "Let me see it," she said, her voice soft, but commanding.

"I said I was fine." He moved his arm away from her.

"Shut up and stop being stubborn Hyuuga Neji," she told him, grabbing his arm none too gently and rolling up his sleeve. "Goodness, men and their inflated egos," she muttered under her breath.

"Stupid women and their constant nagging," he retorted.

"Well, this stupid woman and her _constant_ nagging has saved your ass more than a couple times." She scowled and he wasn't sure if it was because of his comment or his bloody wound.

"It's a flesh wound," he told her, not liking the way she was biting her lip.

"You should have paid more attention when that second wave of weapons came at you. You know that I like to start big. What were you thinking?" She shook her head while rubbing the ointment into the wound.

He didn't answer, and she didn't seem to mind. She was too focused on taking care of his wound.

He closed his eyes at the feeling of her fingers massaging his arm. Damn, did she have any idea how nice that felt?

"Any new missions lately?" she asked, breaking the peaceful silence. She started to bandage his wound.

"No," he told her truthfully, frowning.

"I suppose the Hokage-sama wants to give us a break after the tough mission we had last time," she said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps." His frown deepened as he remembered the last mission. Tenten had been overpowered by a bunch of Sound nin during an ambush. Her weapons had run out and she was forced into taijutsu. None of the ninja had been much of a challenge, but there had been a jounin there of considerable strength that had managed to tear off her Anbu mask and catch her in a headlock. If he hadn't come just in time . . .

"We're working on taijutsu tomorrow."

She looked at him, her brown eyes flashing. "If this is about the last mission then just forget about it Neji." Tenten stood up abruptly, obviously angry. "I told you that I was tired and that guy was just physically too strong for me. I'm just as disappointed in myself as you are but we both know there was no way of avoiding it." They had had this conversation way too many times for her liking.

He gave her a skeptical look.

With surprising agility and strength, she had him pinned up against the tree he had been currently sitting against and was staring angrily at him, their noses just inches apart.

"Listen here, buddy," she told him, her breath feather light against his skin. He forced his face to remain blank as he stared right back into her furious eyes. "It was _one_ mistake. Don't go thinking that I'm _weak_ and—"

Before she realized what was happening, his deft fingers had already pushed some pressure points in her wrist, causing her the release her grip on his throat. He had her pinned to the ground in seconds, his calloused hands gripping both of her wrists.

"I do not think that you are weak," he said softly but firmly, his eyes boring into hers in that piercing, all knowing way that only Hyuuga Neji could. He held his body only inches away from her own, and she wondered briefly if she was the only one being affected by their close proximity.

"You . . . make mistakes." His smoky grey eyes darkened as he said it. "And it only takes one mistake to get yourself killed." He paused again, and she saw something flash in his eyes; felt his hands grip her wrist all the tighter. Still, she said nothing. "You—I will not let you die. I will never let you die."

There was a moment of silence, brief and fleeting. Slowly, she felt Neji's grip on her arm, loosening, as if he had just noticed how hard he was holding it. He rested his hands on either side of her head. He moved closer, his breath hot and steady against her face.

All Tenten could do was stare back into his cloudy grey eyes, waiting for him to kiss her. _Wanting_ him to kiss her.

Their lips were so close now. So close that she could _feel_ Neji's whole body tense up; hear his fists clenching up tightly from where they rested next to her head. So very close, and she hadn't even felt him move off of her. She lay there on the dirt, looking like a dumbstruck fool until her brain finally caught up with her actions.

Her teeth clenched angrily as she realized what she had done. _He was going to kiss me and I didn't resist at all. Damn! My brain just shut down the minute he got within a foot of me. What the hell is wrong with me!_

She stood up quickly, and didn't even dare to look and see where Neji was. With a soft, mumbled apology she was far, far away from the training field. So confused and angry with herself that she could barely see straight.

Neji was barely aware that Tenten had even left. He was too shocked at what he had just done. Of course, his face remained paper smooth (except, perhaps, for a small, almost invisible crease between his brows), but inside, his heart was pounding like a war drum. He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath, trying desperately to keep his emotions in check.

He had almost _kissed_ her! He had almost _kissed_ _Tenten._

It was unthinkable! She was his best friend! And—well, best friends do _not_ kiss each other.

But he himself could barely explain what happened. She had gotten angry. He remembered that. Then she had pinned him up against that tree, with that fiery look in her eyes that already had him thinking things he should not have thought. And the second she had accused him of calling her weak, he had just snapped.

And when she had been under him, her cheeks flushed and her breathing just as hard as his, he couldn't stop himself. Everything inside of him had needed to kiss her so badly that it physically hurt him now that he had deprived himself of it.

He opened his eyes again, and started gathering the fallen weapons that littered the forest floors. Where he would store all the dozens of said weapons was the farthest thing from his mind as he wordlessly gathered them into a large pile.

Of course, he had done the right thing by not kissing her. It was a mistake to have even allowed himself to become so close to her, he knew. He let his emotions control his actions and this was what it had led to. No doubt tomorrow things would be awkward between them. She might even make him_ talk_ to her about it. He wasn't sure if he could do that. He didn't know what he had just done himself.

He had been angry. Not really at _her_, but at the things she _said._ How she assumed that he thought she was weak, how she always seemed to be degrading herself, even without realizing it. It made him angry. Tenten was talented and strong and had everything any girl would want, but she was constantly looking down on herself. Constantly comparing herself to others and thinking that she was weaker or not as good as everyone else. She didn't seem to be aware that people made mistakes, and that it was okay to make them once in a while. It was as if she thought that she should be _perfect_ in every way.

Tenten had made a mistake by challenging that enemy jounin, but it did not make her any less a ninja than she already was. And he hadn't been trying to make her feel inferior by making her train. He was trying to _protect_ her in the only way she would let him. By training with her everyday so that she would be less likely to be injured in a battle.

Neji thought darkly of the one second he had seen her in the hands of another man before said man had been sprawled on the ground courtesy of his Gentle Fist. She had been struggling, bloody and tired and just barely holding on. That man . . . was _touching_ her and trying to _kill_ her at the same time. Two things that simply pissed him off.

A flash of possessiveness ran through him before he could stop it. Only he should be able to touch her, to look at her. And he had let every man in the village who had dared to show interest in her know that. Although Tenten was not aware of it, she had Hyuuga Neji written all over her in the eyes of every male in Konoha.

And somehow, even though he knew he shouldn't, Neji was proud of it. He was proud that Tenten was his. And he knew he would never let her go. Never.

A/N: So? How was it? Sorry if it got a little rant-ish at the end. Couldn't help it. Please review! I really want to know what you think. Did the story suck? Was it good? I want to know! Just push the little purple button. It's not that hard.

nothing but blue…


	4. Too Much

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter. All of your reviews really encouraged me:D Thanks! I'm sorry this update is a little late, but it's finally here. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Too Much

Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time that day as she stood in front of a rather plain looking apartment door. Tenten lived in an old apartment on the outskirts of town. It was nothing special, but then again, Tenten wasn't the type to waste money on something that was fancy and pretty.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go running to Tenten again just because of one little thing with Sasuke. They hadn't talked about the only surviving Uchiha heir for years now, but still…she just had to _talk_ to someone.

Sakura didn't know exactly when she and Tenten had gotten so close. She had never really gotten to know Tenten until after Sasuke's betrayal. Perhaps that was one good thing that came out of Sasuke's departure. It had brought her closer to Tenten.

Tenten wasn't her best friend. She wasn't like Ino, always so energetic and ready to talk and laugh and cry. Tenten was understanding and level headed with the perfect balance of kindness and independence. Tenten was like the older sister she never had, especially when it came to matters concerning Uchiha Sasuke.

When Sasuke had left, Sakura thought that she would never be able to smile again. All she could hear were his words echoing in her head over and over again. Every painful, haunting word he had ever told her. Everything inside of her ached, and there was this constant, heavy pain right where her heart was supposed to be. Everyone else had told her that they were sorry, and that there were better guys for her, and that she would get over him soon. But they were wrong. Sakura knew they were wrong. Because they had never known what it was like to have a broken heart.

She used to sit on the park bench every free moment she had, looking at the sky or gazing at the trees, but mostly watching the little children play on a little playground, laughing and screaming and doing all the things children normally do. It was the only time she felt at peace, sitting there on that bench.

Her friends were beginning to worry for her, especially Naruto. But she didn't care. No, she wasn't angry at them, just sad. So achingly sad that she could not find the strength to really care about anything else.

She remembered Tenten coming up to her one day with a purposeful stride and a somewhat intimidating air about her. She and Tenten had always been on friendly terms, but they had never actually talked about anything beyond missions and annoying teammates.

For awhile, they both just sat there on that park bench, watching the little children play on the nearby playground.

"Why do you come here, Sakura?" Tenten's voice was soft and coaxing, and yet the question almost made Sakura jump. "You come here everyday, and all you do is watch the children play on that jungle gym with a spaced out smile on your face." Tenten said it simply and matter of factly, and her brown eyes did not stray from the laughing children.

Sakura didn't know how to respond, so she said the only thing she felt comfortable saying. "Are you stalking me, Tenten?" Her voice was light and playful, and obviously was trying to veer away from the subject. Tenten didn't even crack a polite smile. Her face stayed as it was, smooth and serene and almost happy even though she wasn't smiling.

"There are few people who come to the park everyday just to see a smiling, innocent face." Tenten finally turned to look into Sakura's wide, green eyes. "That's because there are few people in the world who suffer as we do."

Tenten's lips curved upward ever so slightly. "It's the only thing that makes you the slightest bit happy isn't it? Watching others be happy. Their joy leaks off of them, and into you, and you feel relaxed, and safe. And then you leave, and you're all alone again, and you wait for the next day. You wait for someone to smile at you, to laugh, and to do all the things that you can't do because of the dull, aching pain in your chest."

Nothing could be heard in the still air between the two kunoichi except for the shrieking and laughing of the children.

"Would you like to come over to my house for dinner tomorrow?" Tenten asked suddenly, the air suddenly lightening up between them. In an instant, Tenten changed from the sad, world-weary woman she had been for the past several minutes and back into the smiling, joking kunoichi Sakura had always known her to be.

Sakura sat there, stunned, before slowly returning the other girl's bright smile. "That would be great," she said, and for the first time in a long time, she actually meant it.

As time wore on, Sakura found that she could smile again and really mean it. She realized that with each passing day her heart was slowly getting lighter and lighter (though the heaviness never had completely gone away because no matter what anyone else said, Sakura had had her heart broken, and heartbreak is not something that can ever _be _completely healed).

With Tenten's constant encouragement and support, she was able to forget the boy known as Uchiha Sasuke, the only surviving person of the Uchiha massacre and the boy who she _thought_ she had been in love with.

That is, until a couple of hours ago, when Uchiha Sasuke had come tumbling back into her life so suddenly that she didn't know what to do.

Sakura had spent hours in her apartment, trying to forget about Sasuke. Telling herself this and that until she didn't know what she thought anymore. She couldn't go to Ino. Ino would be sympathetic, but she wouldn't understand. Tenten would understand, she always did.

With that last thought, Sakura gathered her courage and raised her hand to knock on the door.

Tenten answered the door with a tired expression that Sakura had never seen her with before. Briefly, she once wondered if it was such a good idea to dump all of her troubles on Tenten. The poor girl looked like she had had enough troubles for the day. With much effort, she forced the thought to the back of her mind. It was too late to back out now.

"Hey Tenten." A small, almost hesitant smile accompanied the quiet greeting.

Tenten smiled that same comforting smile she always had. "Sakura," her voice held welcome and just a faint trace of relief. "I'm glad it's you. I thought…" she trailed off before smiling once again. "Well, I was expecting you. How have you been? Come in." Tenten stood aside to let the pink-haired girl into her scantily furnished apartment.

"I've been…fine," she replied, stepping in and seating herself down on the couch.

"I'm going to ask again, and this time, if you're going to lie, make it sound convincing," Tenten told her friend. "How are you doing, Sakura?"

"I…" Oh what was she thinking? What could she tell Tenten? That she was still in love with a man who had ruined her life and tore her heart and stepped on the broken pieces so that it took _eight years_ to put them back together. Was she even in love with him? Was it just that infatuation coming up again? Was it an old habit that just wouldn't die?

"I'm so confused…" Sakura groaned out finally, cradling her head in her hands as she got up and started pacing the room. "Tenten, I _can't_ fall in love with him. Not now that I've finally just gotten over him. We can be—friends now, can't we?"

Sakura turned sharply to look at Tenten from across the room, her emerald green eyes holding a desperate plea. Begging Tenten to say that everything would be alright. That she didn't love Sasuke anymore and all of this ridiculous drama in her life could finally end.

A sad look clouded over Tenten's hazel eyes. "Oh Sakura . . ." She bit her lip, the only physical sign of nervousness that Tenten ever really allowed herself to display. "I think," she began unsurely, "that real, true love is something that lasts forever. Something that stays inside of you always." Each word was pronounced slowly and painfully, as if it hurt Tenten to say them. "Love can cause feelings that nothing else can. It can lift you up higher than you could ever imagine…and it can also hurt you more than anything."

Something about the look in Tenten's eyes made Sakura feel small; as if she was just a child standing in the presence of a fallen angel who had lost her heaven. All thoughts of Sasuke momentarily flew out of her mind as she worried over her friend.

Sakura had long ago found out that Tenten was often not what she appeared to be. To almost everyone else, Tenten was a smiling, ambitious ninja well on her way to becoming one of Konoha's most renowned kunoichi. But Sakura _knew_ Tenten. Sakura knew that Tenten was so much deeper, so much sadder, than anyone ever knew. And yet, after all these years, Sakura still hadn't found out much about Tenten's past.

"You've been in love." Sakura's voice was quiet, but not unsure.

Surprise flashed through Tenten's eyes before it was covered by a smile. "I have loved, but I have absolutely no clue what it is like to be _in_ love."

"You're lying," Sakura ground out between clenched teeth. Why did Tenten have to be so stubborn? "You're lying," she repeated. "How could you say such things about love if you haven't experienced it yourself? How can you understand me when no one else can? Tell me, Tenten," she pleaded, desperate to comfort and help Tenten as she had comforted and helped her. "You know you can trust me."

"I can understand you because I know what sorrow is. And there are certain things, Sakura, that should not be spoken aloud."

"It's Neji isn't it?"

Tenten looked away, her breath coming out just a little faster, her heart beating just a little quicker. "This has nothing to do with him," her voice was strong and hard and perfectly controlled.

"It has _everything_ to do with him," Sakura said, exasperated with the older girl's pig-headedness. There was a pause, and then her eyes softened. "You should take some of your own advice, Tenten. I know that you lost your parents when you were little. I know that it hurt you. But…can't you give yourself a chance to be happy again too?"

Tenten closed her eyes, Sakura's words cutting straight into her heart. "I…"

The door burst open at that very moment, an exuberant Lee practically skipping into the apartment. "Tenten! I have come with wonderful news! Gai-sensei and I—" He stopped abruptly as he saw an irritated Sakura sitting next to a surprised Tenten. "Oh, Sakura-san! I'm so glad you are here to celebrate youthful joy with Tenten and I!"

_Dang it, Lee. You've got to have the worst timing ever…_ thought Sakura inwardly. On the outside, she just smiled. She could continue her conversation with Tenten later. "Hey Lee."

Tenten also smiled rather shakily at her friend, thankful (for once) for Lee's horrible timing. "What were you saying again?"

"Oh yes! Guess what, Tenten? Sakura-san will be joining our ANBU team!" Lee burst out; smiling brightly at the embarrassed looking pink-haired kunoichi sitting to Tenten's left.

To Lee's surprise, Tenten did not look happy or excited. In fact, she just looked as if she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide as she turned to look at Sakura. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked sharply.

Sakura seemed confused as she answered almost timidly, "I didn't think it mattered much…"

Tenten looked absolutely shocked, her brown eyes swirling with too many emotions to be named.

"Are you angry Tenten?" Lee asked, obviously just as confused as Sakura. "I thought you would be happy to know that Sakura will be joining us on—"

"Of course I'm not happy!" Tenten almost shouted, standing up suddenly. "Why—" she stuttered in disbelief, "What could have _possibly_ possessed you to go for ANBU?"

Tenten's words hurt Sakura's pride more than she'd have liked to admit. "You and I both know that I'm more than qualified to be joining ANBU, Tenten," Sakura shot back in a voice that was almost too cold and unattached to be hers.

Tenten appeared as if she was about to say something, but quickly shut her mouth. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she wanted to explain; but it was all too much. Neji and her past and Sakura joining ANBU, it was all just too much. She pressed a hand up against her aching head, wishing that everything would just go away.

Sakura stood up suddenly. "I don't know what's been wrong with you lately, Tenten, but you'd better fix it soon." With brisk, controlled steps, she walked past a shocked Lee and out the door.

"Sakura…" Tenten called after her friend half-heartedly. She knew that Sakura was angry at her. It'd probably take the younger girl a few days to calm down. Maybe…oh goodness, she was too _tired_ for all of this drama.

She collapsed back onto the couch, sighing and cradling her head in her hands.

"What?" she looked up at the only person left in the room with tired eyes. "Aren't you going to leave me too?"

Lee, as usual, ignored her question, instead moving to sit down across from her. "Tenten, what's wrong?" He looked at her with concerned eyes.

Her lips twitched upward in an attempt at a smile. "Nothing's wrong Lee."

Lee patiently waited for her to answer the question truthfully. Sure enough, a few seconds later she heaved out a sigh and started to speak. "It's just…Sakura's too young to be joining ANBU. It's not _for_ her, don't you get it? She's young and she's innocent and she's got so much to live for. She—she's just a girl."

There was a brief pause. "When I think of Sakura, I think of a girl who's still learning how to live life. A girl who's still learning how to fall in love, and how to deal with things that hurt her. She doesn't know what we do, Lee." She looked at Lee almost desperately. "She doesn't know about the darkness or the blood or the stench of dozens of rotting corpses. She's not ready."

"Sakura has taken a life before," he tried to argue back, but his voice was uncertain, like a child trying to argue with his mother.

"You _know_ what I mean Lee."

And Lee _did_ know what she meant. He had been in ANBU just as long as Tenten and Neji had, and he knew it was no job of glory or fame. They did things that should never be spoken of. They were the shadows in the night that murdered fathers and mothers and loved ones. When children from enemy villages went to sleep at night, their nightmares were full of _them_. The ANBU of Konoha.

And, in reality, Lee didn't want to put Sakura through that. But he also would not discourage her. If Sakura believed she could join ANBU, then who was he to doubt her. He had thought Tenten would think the same way, but obviously he was mistaken.

"She's a kunoichi, Tenten, just like you."

"No, she's _not_ like me! That's the whole point! She's got a _family_ Lee, and she's got someone to love."

Lee frowned. Sakura had been right. Tenten had been acting quite strangely lately. She simply hadn't been her normal self. When she smiled, it seemed forced and a bit fake, and she was constantly belittling herself.

"We're your family, Tenten," he told her with a kind of faith and confidence that only he could possess. "Me and Neji and Gai-sensei." He smiled and struck a half hearted good-guy pose, trying to lighten up the mood. "You don't need anyone else."

"I…" she sighed and then stood up again, making a shooing motion with her hands. "I'm tired, Lee. Go home already."

"But wait—" Lee protested as he was shoved almost forcefully out the door. "Tenten—" The door promptly slammed shut in his face.

He hung his head in a defeated manner that was very un-Lee-like and sighed. What had just happened? He had caused a fight between Tenten and Sakura, two girls that had _never_ fought before. What had he done?

After a few moments his head snapped back up and his eyes shone once again with youth and determination. "I should go talk to Neji," he told himself firmly. "He's the one who trains with her. Maybe he knows what our beautiful flower might be suffering with!"

And with renewed youthful determination, Lee (literally) skipped off to the Hyuuga estate, completely oblivious to the fact that it was almost midnight.

A/N: Well, this chapter was a very hard one to write. I hope I portrayed Tenten and Sakura's relationship correctly. It looked good in my head, but I just couldn't find the right words to write it down. It seemed too angsty and I'm sorry that I never got to make Lee his usual self in this chapter. But when you think about it, Lee can't be crazy _all_ the time. I believe that, when the situation calls for it, he can be very subdued and sensitive.

Anyways, I'm sincerely sorry if this chapter was disappointing. Feel free to flame me or criticize me or whatever.

Oh yeah! I've got a question for you guys. I'm just curious.

Who is your absolute favorite Naruto character and why?

You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just wondering. Please review! Bye!

nothing but blue…


	5. Decisions

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry this chapter is so late. sigh. I really have no excuse this time. I guess I'm just getting lazy lately… I meant to update a few days ago, but things came up, and there was an earthquake. (sniffles. I had to live without my computer for a whole day!) Well, enough about me. Here's the story. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5: Decisions

"Good night, Hinata." A sweet, shy peck on the cheek followed the words, and then the blond-haired boy was walking into the night, his hands behind his head in his classic relaxing posture.

Despite herself, she could feel warmth seep into her cheeks as she watched her boyfriend walk away. "Oh Naruto . . ." she sighed, a small smile lighting up her face. _I can't believe that all of this is real,_ she thought blissfully as she quietly slipped into the Hyuuga Compound. Naruto was actually interested in _her._ Of all people he could have chosen, he had chosen her. Just the thought of it made her so happy that she could burst.

"Neji nii-san!" she said in surprise as she saw her cousin walking briskly down the hall out of the corner of her eye. He turned to her sharply, and she almost immediately noticed that something was bothering him by the tense set of his shoulders.

Over the years, she and Neji had slowly rebuilt their broken relationship, healing the scars of old wounds with quiet words and friendly nods until they were as close to being normal cousins as they could possibly be. She had learned to read his mood by the subtle changes of his posture and expression, though she still wasn't as good as she knew Tenten was.

"Hinata-sama," he greeted, his head bowing in recognition.

"You don't need to call me that Neji nii-san," she told him.

"I know."

She smiled at him. "Would you like to go walking with me?"

He looked at her and tried to smile back, if only for her sake. "Sure."

It was that time of year when the flowers were just beginning to bloom and the wind smelled of life and rain and spring. And the garden was a beautiful sight, all green and growing and just beginning to wake up from the sleep that is winter. The two cousins walked silently beside each other, taking in the scene in their own quiet ways.

Finally, Hinata's voice broke through the silence, and it sounded so shy and hesitant that Neji was reminded of their younger days, when he had been blind and uncaring and she had been the timid, useless Hyuuga failure.

"I-is everything alright, Neji nii-san?"

He frowned unconsciously, his brows furrowing. No, everything was not alright. Today he had almost kissed Tenten. Today he had almost ruined the most precious relationship he had. And tomorrow he would have to see her again. And there would be a strange sort of silence between them, and he wouldn't know what to do or what to say, because sometimes, being around Tenten could do that to him.

"Everything's fine."

She knew he was lying. He _knew_ that she knew he was lying. But she only gave him that same understanding smile she always had for him and continued walking. That was how it had always been. Hinata knew that Neji would never tell her his problems, but she asked anyway. Because no matter what anyone said about them, Hinata cared for Neji and he cared for Hinata. It was a delicate relationship, full of lies and smiles and understandings, but it was still _theirs_.

"My father…asked me something today." Hinata bit her lip, a sign of that old nervousness coming back. It was rare that Hiashi would speak to anyone as of late. The years had finally taken its toll on him, and he barely spent time with tedious clan meetings and small talk anymore. "H-he asked me…to be the clan head. T-to be his successor," she stuttered out in a jumble of words. "I told him I wouldn't, That I didn't want to."

His head shot towards her with eyes that told her that she was a fool, that she was crazy for not accepting the offer. "You know I could never do it, Neji," she said as if in answer to the look in his eyes. She didn't notice that she had dropped the usual honorific. "I'm not a leader, and these people haven't accepted me. They don't believe that I can do it, and—"

"If Hiashi-sama believes that you can do it, then there is no need for anyone else to doubt you," his strong, firm voice cut in. He looked away. "You should take the offer, Hinata." He wanted what was best for her, and, honestly, he thought she would make a wonderful leader. She was strong, and could overcome any shyness or criticism because he knew that she truly did care for her clan. Despite all the clan had done to her, she still loved them anyway. And in the end, that was all that really mattered.

"Neji nii-san." She seemed to struggle with her words and emotions for awhile before looking up at him with possibly the brightest smile she had ever smiled at him. "It's an honor just to know that you have confidence in me. But, I know what's best for the clan." She tapped him on the shoulder shyly. "I told my father that _you_ would be best for the clan."

He could feel his heart stop and all thoughts flee from his mind at her words. "I know it's always been what you've dreamed of, Neji nii-san," she continued gently. "The clan is your life goal. You're strong and you've worked hard, and it's the least you deserve."

Finally, words came to his lips. "Hinata-sama, you cannot simply—"

"Please, Neji," she said, one of the few times in her life she had ever interrupted him. "Let me do this for you." Her eyes were shining, and he wasn't sure if it was from tears or if it was just a trick of the light. "I...well, I've always looked up to you Neji nii-san. And you've always been so kind to me. You've helped me improve so much—and this is the only thing I can do for you, I'm afraid. So, Neji nii-san," she gave him a pleading look, "Please, please just let me do this."

He was silent, overcome by her words, by the desperation in her voice. She continued, her voice quiet and encouraging, as if she knew she had already won. "The clan trusts you to lead them, Neji nii-san. And so does Father."

She started walking back to the compound, leaving a stunned Neji behind. She was almost out of sight before he was suddenly jerked back into reality. "Hinata-sama!" he yelled after her without thinking. She turned around, her white eyes seeming to glow in the dark. For awhile, he didn't know what to say. And then the words came out. "Thank you." He said simply, trying to push every bit of happiness and gratitude he felt into the words.

That small smile lit up her face, and she murmured one shy 'your welcome' before disappearing into the compound.

* * *

The second he heard the tap on his window, Neji was fully alert and ready for battle with a kunai in his hand. He blinked as he saw two large eyes staring at him from the outside. _Lee…_ he thought with an annoyed sigh as he moved to open the window.

It had taken him long enough to fall asleep. It had taken him hours of meditation to hellp him sort out his thoughts on everything that had happened that day. Surprisingly, being the clan leader was not the biggest thing on his mind. It had been _her_; the way that she had looked sprawled out beneath him, and how easily he could have kissed her right then. He had finally decided (after hours), that he would forget about their almost-kiss. Really, it was just stupid hormones that had caught him off-guard (though he knew that he was much to old to be blaming _everything_ on hormones). Plus, he didn't care for Tenten _that_ way. He would just forget it, and he knew that Tenten would do the same. But now Lee had to come barging in on the few hours of sleep he had left?

"What is it, Lee?" he asked, not bothering to disguise the irritation in his voice. "It's," he glanced at the clock, "12:30 in the morning. This had better be damn important."

"So it's true!" Lee pointed at him with an accusing finger, his eyes lighting up with realization.

"What's true? And would you please lower your voice, you idiot?" he demanded in a harsh whisper. He and Lee had learned to respect each other over the years, and they might even be considered friends. But really, this was just too much.

"You have dimmed our beautiful flower's flames of youth! You and Tenten got into a fight!" Neji winced slightly, and he wasn't sure if it was from the volume of Lee's statement, or the statement itself.

"I told you to be quiet. Don't you ever listen?" he hissed, hoping Lee hadn't seen him wince.

"Oh," Lee replied, his voice much softer than before. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, as if he hadn't heard Neji the first time he had said to be quiet.

"Yeah, right. Now get out of my house." He tried to nudge Lee out the window, but the green-clad boy refused to move.

"Nope." Lee shook his head, the action seeming childishly determined and deadly serious at the same time. "I'm not gonna leave until you tell me why Tenten was so upset tonight."

He furrowed his brows. Was Tenten really that upset because of what had happened? And how in the world did _Lee_ know about it? "What the hell do you mean?" He really wasn't in the mood to discuss these things. Especially not now in the middle of the night. God, couldn't a guy catch some sleep now days?

"I mean that she and the lovely Sakura got into a fight. You know that our Tenten never gets into fights with her friends. And she and Sakura are really close. I figured that you would know what was going on, since you're her partner and all. And since you're in a bad mood too, I have concluded that _you_ must be the cause of our beautiful flower's distress!"

Neji could feel his temper rising at his teammate's ridiculous accusations. "First of all, what does Sakura and Tenten fighting have to do with _me_? I wasn't even there, so how could I have caused it. And have you ever thought that maybe I was in a bad mood because you woke me up _in the middle of the night_?"

"Well…" Lee said, looking down and scratching his head. There was a moment of hesitant silence before he said, "I just thought it was a serious matter, Neji…"

Neji paused and narrowed his eyes. Now that he thought about it, Lee did seem more serious than usual. He wasn't saying youth after every word, and that had to mean something serious was up. "Thought that what was a serious matter?" he questioned, hoping that this wouldn't take all night. He finally sat down, as if resigned to the fact that he would never be able to rest until Lee told him what he had to say.

Lee too, plopped himself down on the floor. "Tenten has been acting weird lately. Haven't you noticed?"

"Of course I've noticed," he snapped. "I would be the first one to notice, you idiot."

"Aren't you worried about her at all?"

Neji was silent for awhile. "She's like this every year. Don't worry," he said, making sure his voice sounded as it usually did.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, confusion written plainly in his eyes.

"She's like this at this time every year. Every autumn she starts acting a little weird." He shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "Maybe it's the weather or something."

"Neji, stop acting like you don't care about Tenten!" Lee shouted with an angry fire in his eyes, banging his fist into the floor.

"Of course I care about Tenten. She's our teammate," he whispered fiercely. "Now stop making so much noise before I kick you out of my house."

"Well you won't have to," Lee said, standing up and still using the same obnoxiously loud voice. "I'm leaving, and if you don't want to help Tenten, _I_ will." With that, he jumped out the window and disappeared into the night.

Neji sighed as he slowly made his way back to his bed. Great, Lee had woken him up in the middle of an already restless night, given him even _more_ things to worry about, and then left in a huff. It would be a miracle if he was able to sleep now. _That idiot,_ Neji thought, but he couldn't really bring himself to be truly angry at his teammate. After all, Lee was just concerned for Tenten's safety.

He, Lee, Tenten, and Gai-sensei hadn't always been as good and close a team as they were now. In fact, there was a time when they were the weakest genin team of their year. It wasn't because there was a lack of talent on the team. It was actually more like there was too _much_ talent. They were all so different, so unbalanced, and so excellent in their own fields that they simply could _not _work together.

Neji snorted. It was a stupid thought, really. They should have made the perfect team, Lee with his powerful taijutsu, Tenten with her impeccable long-range combat, and he with his Byakugan and Jyuuken. And yet, it had taken them so long just to learn to respect and trust each other.

From the moment he had been introduced to his team, he knew that it wouldn't work. He had thought they were all just a bunch of rejects, really. Lee and Gai-sensei were just too…_crazy,_ what with the whole insane determination and enthusiasm and 'Youth!' speeches. And Tenten, with her smiles and her laughter and her patience, was just another girl, another burden.

He had been wrong about all of them. Especially Tenten. From the beginning, Tenten had always been somewhat mysterious. Not in a dark, quiet, suspicious way like Uchiha Sasuke, though. Tenten was friendly, well-liked, practical, and easy to talk to. The weird thing was that despite all of these traits, no one really knew anything about her. Not where exactly she came from (no one had seen her before she appeared at the Konoha Academy at the age of 10), or even what her last name was.

He had known all these things about Tenten before she had joined his team, but he hadn't really thought much of it. Other than the fact that she was foreign, didn't have a last name, and was actually _good_ with weapons, she had seemed just like a normal, prissy girl to him. And how would a _girl_ help in his task to take down the Main House.

Neji rolled over on his bed with an expression half way between a scowl and a smile on his face. Tenten had ended up helping him with his goal more than anyone else. She had taught him things, and talked to him, had _seen_ him more than anyone else. Maybe that was why he had always been drawn to her in a way that he could never bring himself to explain…

And that was why he was worried about her. That was why he would ask her about her past tomorrow, even if he didn't want to. Even if he knew that _she_ didn't want him to. Because a feeling in his gut told him that Tenten's strange behavior was somehow linked to her past. He knew that the sadness and the pain that she kept buried inside was somehow related to what had happened to her back then. Back then when he hadn't been around to protect her.

Even if it caused Tenten to hate him, he would find out. Because that's what friends did. And he was her best friend wasn't he?

* * *

"Uchiha Sasuke. Tsunade-sama awaits you." Three ANBU stood in the entrance to his hospital room, and he looked up at them lazily.

"Yeah," he replied in a voice that he hoped sounded relaxed and lazy. He had a hard enough time admitting to himself that he was nervous. Hell if he would let these idiot ANBU know that he was.

He got up and walked over to them, trying not to favor his right leg. They said it had been a crack in the bone, and they had wondered how he had managed to walk all the way back to Konoha from the Sound. He had other injuries too of course, injuries that should have had him in bed for at least a couple more months. Not like anyone cared. He was just a traitor, after all.

They arrived at Tsunade's office all to quickly, and as Sasuke faced the blonde woman, he had no idea what to say. What was he supposed to say? Sorry? It was much too late for sorry's and Sasuke knew it.

To his surprise, Tsunade greeted him with an almost kind smile. "Well if it isn't our favorite Uchiha. How have you been, hm?" She took a swig out of an almost empty beer bottle, and it was then that Sasuke realized why she was being so nice.

"You're drunk," he said, hoping not to sound disrespectful.

"Silly boy. It takes me a lot more than this to get me drunk. Have a seat." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Just push aside all the papers."

He sat down, albeit cautiously. "Then why are you being so…nice?" he asked, his brows furrowing in doubt. This conversation was definitely not going the way he had envisioned it. He had been relieved when they had told him that the 'trial' wasn't going to be public, but he had still thought there would be just a little bit of hate on the Hokage's part. And here she was, acting as if they were old friends.

She laughed a little, and then straightened up, finally appearing as if she was ready to talk business. "Actually, Sasuke, I'm not quite sure what to do with you just yet." She paused, and then looked at him, as if analyzing him, as if she could see _through_ him. "But now that I see you, I think I've made my decision."

His face remained blank, ready for whatever news she was going to tell him and expecting the worst.

She heaved a sigh, and then launched into an explanation, her voice somehow reminding him of how Sakura used to sound when she was teaching Naruto some fact he should have already known. "You've done lots of things wrong, Uchiha Sasuke. You've betrayed your village, joined your village's enemy, and committed various assassinations. These are very serious crimes, and will be taken into consideration in your punishment."

He tried hard not to fidget under the Hokage's intimidating gaze.

"On the other hand, you have inadvertently been a major help to our village by eliminating Itachi and Orochimaru, both S-ranked criminals. And, while you did commit treason against this village, your intentions were not completely immoral…" Tsunade flashed him a playful smile.

Sasuke was shocked to the point of silence. He didn't know _what_ to think anymore. One minute she's accusing him of horrible crimes and the next minute she's _grinning_ at him. What the hell had happened in Konoha while he had been gone.

"And by the look of you, it seems as though you truly are sorry." She shrugged. "So I guess you're suspended. No use of chakra for the next…hmm…three years. And you'll be under constant watch by at least one qualified shinobi at all times—"

"T-that's it?!" Sasuke burst out, practically jumping out of his seat. Tsunade shot him a confused look. He shook his head in disbelief. "I…and you…t-that's it?!" he sputtered out.

"Feh," Tsunade smirked. "I really should've held a public trial. People would have gotten a kick out of the way your face looks right now." Sasuke immediately calmed down, and sat back down in his seat after realizing he had gotten up in his outburst.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama," he said, trying to sound humble, but not too pathetic. He didn't want to ruin his chance at freedom or his reputation thank you very much.

"Yeah, no need to apologize," she said off-handedly. "Anyways, keep in mind that all of this isn't official yet. I'll have to take it through the elders." She sighed in exasperation. "You know how _that_ goes. And of course there's the trouble of getting people to actually _watch_ you every single day. I suppose there are ways of cutting of chakra…" she mused to herself. She suddenly looked at him, as if she had forgotten he was there. "You can go now, Sasuke. See you soon."

Sasuke stood up slowly and walked out of the office and was escorted back to his hospital room, still in a half-daze. He was still alive, and…he could actually become a Konoha shinobi again. He didn't know what to think anymore. He hadn't seen Naruto or Kakashi since he had returned, and then there had been that rather awkward encounter with Sakura the other day. (He still couldn't believe he had actually thought of _kissing_ her.) Who knows what would happen once he joined Team 7 again.

Unconsciously, his eyes strayed to the picture and flowers on the table next to him. Sakura must have brought them over while he was still unconscious. The picture was, of course, the one Team 7 had taken when they were still genin. In a way, he still wanted to believe in that time; when Naruto was still the energetic, ambitious loud-mouth, and Sakura still had the glimmer of an regular, teenage girl in her eyes, and Kakashi was just their old perverted teacher.

He smirked. He had wronged them in a way that couldn't ever be completely forgotten. But now that Itachi was dead, now that the very goal that he lived for was finished, they were the only people he had left. The only family that he could still make things right with. Everything else in his life had turned out to be a mess, but right then, he vowed that he would make it up to Team 7 if it was the last thing he did.

_I swear I'll make it up to you,_ he silently promised them as he lay there in the hospital. He thought of Sakura as he had seen her before, crying for him in her sleep. A surge of what could only be described as determination welled up within him. _Especially to you, Sakura. Especially to you…

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A/N: Uh…well, that's it. Thanks for reading and please leave a review. This was sort of a transition chapter. Hopefully this story starts moving along faster. I'm sorry about the slowness! It's a bad habit. I'm trying to fix it.

Well, here's a question I'd like to ask you all. **What are your thoughts on Neji?** Do you think he's an antisocial jerk, or simply a quiet, arrogant prodigy? Everyone seems to think different things about Neji, and I'd like to hear all of your opinions. As for me, I think that Neji isn't completely antisocial. I mean, he definitely does have a heart in there, and its not like he _never_ talks. I can see him as someone who cares deeply about people, but is too shy or embarrassed to show it. Hmm…it's really hard to explain, but I've mostly portrayed how I think Neji is in this fic, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

I'd like to hear everyone's comments, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Hopefully, the next update should be in about a month, give or take. Bye! Thank you!


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